If productive use is needed to ensure financial viability of the energy investments, then MCC should conduct comprehensive demand and value chain analyses prior to the investment decision. Grant led interventions to promote productive use of renewable energy through provision of production houses for processing agricultural commodities, equipment and training were found to be less effective. While 33% are still utilized, about 80% of those inactive were due to communities shifting away from agricultural activities, producer preference to sell unprocessed goods, lack of access to capital for inputs, and lack of market linkages for processed goods. The evaluation also found the assumption that productive use will follow immediately and seamlessly after completion of project is not always the case and that support beyond training on use of technology for strengthening market access and growth are therefore recommended. When the financial viability of electricity infrastructure requires a certain level of demand, the realism of achieving that level of demand with or without additional interventions to increase the productive use of electricity should be carefully studied. Increasing demand projections can be particularly complex and may take a significant period of time to observe results. Similarly, investments generally targeting productive use of electricity, such as the Window 2 community-based grants, should be carefully vetted to assess the viability of the proposed business model.
Lesson Learned